10/16/2007
A new film from the makers of "Scratch"
Doug Pray and Brad Blondheim, the director/editor and producer of Scratch, respectively, are premiering another documentary, called Big Rig.
From the website:
"BIG RIG" is a broad portrait of modern America as seen through the eyes of long-haul truck drivers. Spanning 21,000 miles, 45 states, and dozens of truck stops, director Doug Pray and producer Brad Blondheim (the team who created SCRATCH) went far beyond just the chrome and coffee culture and made a film that delves deeply into the lives and personal struggles of these working-class heroes, who are, literally, carrying the nation upon their backs.
From the opening scene at New York City's Hunt's Point Market, where semis arrive at 3am to feed the Northeast, to California's San Joaquin Valley, where all that produce came from, "BIG RIG" is the ultimate road-trip movie. And though it is filled with gorgeous roadside vistas, it is really about the people you meet along the way. Like Jessie, a Mississippi driver who is battling Graves disease while his son fights in Iraq; or Loretta, a mother from Ohio who carries a concealed weapon in her cab for fear of truckstop violence; or Ron, a native-American who uses his 18-wheeler to visit tribes throughout the country while delivering vinyl; or Bear, an Idaho steel-driver whose love of country has him wanting to overhaul our government, to name a few. All of them are fiercely independent souls who, as one young driver says, "represent the last of the spirit of the American cowboy... it's a dying breed out there."
Underlying this east-to-west odyssey of stories is the reality that every single item you own, including everything you're wearing, everything you ate today, and even this computer screen - was delivered by truck. And the gas that fueled that same truck was delivered by truck, and so on. In short, if America's truck drivers staged a strike tomorrow, within 48 hours, this entire nation would grind to a halt. Yet, this community of truckers we depend upon face a mounting crisis of skyrocketing gas prices, government interference, corporate take-over of their industry, and a very unsympathetic public full of "four-wheelers" who'd more often give them the finger, than the right-of-way.
"BIG RIG" was shot during four, two-week periods and was the result of random, documentary-style "casting" of everyday truckers at truckstops from coast to coast. Director Doug Pray, who also shot the movie in HD, and Producer Brad Blondheim would fish for interviews, and, when they had a catch would hitch a ride with the drivers for the next hour or two, or, in some cases a whole day. Pray would conduct interviews with his camera from the passenger seat, while Blondheim followed behind in a van. One assistant, Jim Dziura, helped with lighting, sound and camera. During a year of editing, about a dozen key stories emerged to form the narrative of the film. While they unfold, the entire country seems to fly by outside the window. The result is a poetic blend of scenery, character, and commerce.
If it's anywhere near as good as "Scratch", it'll be great. Check it out.